Writing China’s Modern History in Contemporary Greater China

UC Berkeley's Center for Chinese Studies presents a panel discussion historical archives in China and the heightened level of scholarly exchanges between Chinese and Western scholars.

Wen-hsin Yeh, History, UC Berkeley
Wang Chaoguang, Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Zhang Qing, History, Fudan University, Shanghai
Jin Chongji, Institute of Central Documentary Study, Beijing
Jin Yilin, Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Sciences

The past two decades have witnessed unprecedented openings of historical archives in China, accompanied by a heightened level of scholarly exchanges between Chinese and Western scholars. The writing of China’s modern history in China nonetheless remains a matter of high political sensitivity. Historians who publish in Chinese have found liberation by approaching China’s modern history with new questions that re-conceptualize contested issues concerning Chinese political legitimacy. Western scholars, on the other hand, tend to focus on broader issues of socio-economic trends -- privileging evaluative and genealogical questions, for example, concerning Chinese modernity.

In what way can we speak of meaningful exchanges between Chinese and American scholars on the subject of China’s modern history? To what extent have the richness of new sources, the changes in political dynamics, and the openness of scholarly exchanges helped to fashion an international field of modern Chinese historical studies both in and outside of China?

This Roundtable presents contributions by leading historians of modern China based respectively in Beijing, Shanghai, and Taipei.  These scholars offer their distinct considerations of an emerging Chinese narrative on China’s 20th century. 

We invite all students interested in modern and contemporary Chinese history to take part in this discussion.